Bob Parker

Chrischurch City Council CEO Tony Maryatt gets a 14% pay rise to $540,000 when people are still using toilets in the street? Where's the spirit of the blitz? Because true leadership speaks of sacrifice

From a distance, Canterbury politics look as swampy as the land the city is built on. Environment Canterbury argued for so many years about a plan for its own water supply that it was taken over by government. Now, Christchurch City Council's incredibly clumsy support for a pay rise for its CEO is prompting complaints about dysfunction and disunity.

Council campaigns are in the home straight... In Auckland, Orakei is set for change for the first time since World War II, but will be much the same. In other wards, it's tight as heck. And in Christchurch, the campaign's being won by a jacket

He's been labelled a carpetbagger, a betrayer and too ambitious by half, but Cameron Brewer has the profile, 'nice young man' charm and momentum to kick Citizens and Ratep

While the Finance Minister will worry about long-term implications, the earthquake is good news for a lot of New Zealanders facing tough times, especially Bob Parker

I don't know what Jim Anderton and Bill English have done to the gods, but it seems they are Lear's flies to wanton boys, the playthings of the divine, after this weekend's Canterbury earthquake. Or, at least, they will be quietly cursing their luck.